The stranger was Jeff Washburn, general manager of Asheville Mall in Asheville, N.C., who was spending part of Wednesday morning randomly approaching shoppers as they prepared to pay for their items.

Washburn offered to pay for a portion of Perez's purchases as part of the mall's "Random Acts of Kindness" program for the holidays.

"It's kind of a way to give back to our customers who do so much and shop with us during the holidays," said Washburn.

Washburn handed each shopper he approached a card encouraging them to "pay it forward" by doing something to help someone else this holiday season.

Emily Ferguson, of Black Mountain, N.C., had her credit card in hand at the Ulta store when Washburn offered to pay for her items. She said she doesn't often shop at the mall, but Wednesday her timing was perfect.

"I think it's great," said Ferguson. "It puts a smile on everybody's face, and I will pass it forward. I will do something for someone else."

The mall began doing these "acts of kindness" Tuesday to correspond with Giving Tuesday, which promotes donations to charities on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Other CBL & Associates Properties Inc. malls were also taking part in the promotion.

"We had some really neat reactions yesterday," Washburn said. "We were just out this morning and did a couple more. One of the comments was, 'Is that man really gonna pay for our purchase?' "

Washburn said Asheville Mall had about $500 to spend surprising customers. Between 35 and 40 shoppers had part or all of a purchase paid for Tuesday and Wednesday.